


The Mintumble Project

by baylxx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Auror Teddy Lupin, Bisexual Teddy Lupin, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, First War with Voldemort, How Do I Tag, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Original Character(s), POV Teddy Lupin, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29071935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baylxx/pseuds/baylxx
Summary: Teddy Lupin is the newest hot-shot Auror for the Ministry. Calm, collected, and overall brilliant to boot. So how the hell did she manage to find herself in the year 1979?After a research study turns sour, Teddy is trapped 40 years in the past, unable to return to her present. The next thing she knows, she has teamed up with an unlikely bunch she's only heard stories about. Is fixing the past really worth putting the future she's come to know at risk?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 5





	The Mintumble Project

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my very first fanfiction! I'm so stoked I actually got the balls to write it, lmao. This idea came to me during quarantine, and it's finally outside of my brain.  
> That being said, here's my one housekeeping point: Teddy Lupin is basically an OC; I hope that doesn't make anyone angry or anything, haha. I just had this vision of a badass female character and wanted to squeeze her in this universe (:  
> Anyway! Please enjoy! Any criticism or comments are welcome.

**Leaky Cauldron- 14 April 2018: Approx. 10 pm**

She swiped three fingers along the old wooden dresser, dust quickly accumulated on the tips. Her nose scrunched. The room smelled of mildew, day-old split-pea soup, and something else she couldn't quite pin-point. Not ideal, but not the most disgusting place she's stepped foot in. If someone actually bothered to put a little effort in, it might be considered a nice place. She did a full circle of the room. A new coat of varnish on the bedroom set, a quick shake of the curtains, and maybe even a big chair in the corner for extra sitting space would do wonders."Accommodations not to your liking, Theodora?" Her mind's wandering was cut short by her colleague striding into the room with a smirk on his face as he observed her.  
"No mahogany? No marble flooring set for my arrival? I shall be putting in my two weeks at once." She turned her nose up at him before letting her face break out in a smile. "This is fine, Leroy. I just hope I can get past the smell. Remember the old abandoned Bertie Botts factory? I couldn't do 5 seconds inside that cess-pool of leftover cherry and bogey smell. Let alone... how long was that one?"  
He was entirely in the room now, his long legs making for a short journey as he approached her fast. "What year were you born?" He asked while flicking out his wand; the Lumos charm shone brightly in her eyes as he flicked it back and forth. She followed it obediently. He scribbled nonsense down on his clipboard using a quick quill.  
"The war was at its peak, the rainstorm felt like it hadn't let up in weeks, whispers of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named cast shadows in the small cottage living room-"  
"I don't need the theatrics every time I have to ask you these bloody questions," he said, cutting off the usual spiel she gave him.  
"April 1998," She finally said. "It's not a big deal; we've done so many of these test runs. I think it's normal for me to mix them up now and again."  
He frowned at her, thick caterpillar eyebrows knit together in a mix of worry and annoyance. Leroy was her favorite coworker. He was the only one out of their small research team who bothered to reach out and ask if she wanted to grab drinks after a rough day, he clapped her on the back after successful tests, and it seemed he genuinely cared about her successes and failures. They were the two youngest on a team of middle-aged wizards and witches. Even then, the clear difference in their five years was apparent in the lines and bags on his face and under his eyes. He looked too old for his age. The stress of a ministry job and long hours at the office were not kind to him.  
"If there are any side effects, we need to be sure to catch them; this isn't something that can be tossed aside." He said, putting the quill away. "That test was just last month. You should be able to remember that one. These are dangerous and ground-breaking missions that could have serious consequences."  
This spiel was all too familiar, almost the same one that had come straight from the minister herself when she was first introduced to the project. It was only six months ago that she was summoned to the minister's office. The short trip from the Auror offices on level 2 of the Ministry's Headquarters to level 1 felt like it took forever. She dodged the crowds moving against her and squeezed herself into a lift despite knowing she was the extra body that changed the lift's capacity from uncomfortably full to knowing precisely what your coworker had for lunch full. Her brain was too preoccupied to give a damn about the glares digging into her back from the people behind her on the elevator. She was getting fired, and she knew it. She was a liability after all.  
Her last assignment had not gone as planned. She had let her emotions and hot temper get the best of her in a way she had never let them before. That's why she was on the bench now, stuck filing paperwork for the more important field agents. She must've looked so foolish sitting there at her desk. Limp posture, head down, and a line of new scars on her face as a permanent reminder of what an idiot she had been.  
Ever since her botched mission, she tried to tread as carefully as possible, getting her work done in a timely manner and only speaking when spoken to. This in itself was exhausting. She wasn't exactly a showboat by any means, but she knew what she was talking about, and she was never one to be scared of voicing opinions. She worked hard to be where she was, despite the whispers of doubt amongst her coworkers in the Auror department that would lead one to think otherwise.  
"She's only here because Potter's her god-father. Nepotism at its finest if you ask me."  
"She cheated her whole way through Auror training."  
"I heard she inherited her father's curse. Granger always pitied creatures like that."  
She didn't dare tell Harry or Hermione about what the department had to say about her because if she did, it would only further the department's assumptions. She knew they weren't true, for the most part, and that would have to be enough. However, these assumptions were always stuck in her head, pushing her further and further until she finally snapped.  
So yeah, she was getting fired, everyone's assumptions would be proven right, and all the hard work she had put into studying and training would be out the window. Perhaps everyone was right. She was led into the office by a small witch. The latter refused to look her in the eyes, guess word about her scars and her insufferable idiocy can weasel itself into other ministry gossip circles. Just a few months ago, the same witch welcomed her into Hermione's office with a warm smile and a cup of tea.  
"Granger will be right with you," she said before hurrying out of the room and closing the door gently behind her.  
Maybe Nepotism wasn't such a bad thing. She felt completely comfortable in the office as she took a seat behind the desk. The smell of tea, dust, and parchment was much better than the Auror office's usual smell of sweat, coffee, and smoke. It felt homey with the old rickety chairs and sizeable polished desk adorned with pictures of Hermione's family grinning in their frames. She was present in some of them. One, in particular, caught her eye as she picked it up. It was a picture from a vacation to Shell Cottage with the Weasley family. The Ocean rose and fell in the background, Ron and Hermione were smiling front and center, while Rose sat firmly on her father's shoulders. Several other children ran with the tide in the back of the photo, too blurry to make out in the old photograph. Victoire was standing next to her uncle, giving the camera a toothy grin. Theodora was next to her, the same childish smile splashed across her face, their hands clasped together and swung back and forth. She felt a pang of something in her chest, but before she could think about it too much, the door to the office swung open. She set the photograph down quickly and stood up to greet the minister.  
"Teddy, what have I told you about sitting behind my desk?" Hermione sighed, striding into the room and shutting the door firmly behind her.  
"Ah, don't mind me, just rifling through some files, uncovering ministry secrets, the usual." She walked out from behind the old polished desk and was greeted by a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.  
"Well, did you find anything good?" She asked, taking her rightful place behind the desk and adjusting the photo Teddy had been holding.  
A blush crept onto her face while she sat down opposite the minister, the old rickety chair was more uncomfortable than usual.  
"Nothing interesting. Galleon smuggling, a few seedy agreements with Knockturn Alley frequents." She crossed her legs casually in an attempt to seem more at ease than she felt.  
"I'll try to have something better for you next time." She smiled before straightening her back out and clasping her hands firmly on the desk, shifting from an old family friend to Minister of Magic in record time. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've summoned you down here." She didn't waste any time cutting to the chase.  
"You're firing me?" Teddy didn't want to beat around the bush and make it harder for either of them. A simple "yes" and she would nod curtly and leave. Maybe grab some Firewhiskey from the shop down the street before retreating to her small flat and drinking away her wasted potential.  
But she didn't say yes; instead, she stared at Teddy, eyebrows knitted together and head tilted, "I'm not quite sure what brought you to that conclusion, but that's not what's happening."  
"Oh." She said, feeling foolish for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day.  
"I have a new mission for you, actually." Hermione pulled out her wand and Accio'd a folder from one of the many cabinets stacked around the circular room.  
The folder spoke for itself with a giant "UNSPEAKABLE" stamp across the front in a menacing red ink that made Teddy's stomach turn. Red meant to stop, run, danger, and she was considering taking the warnings and booking it. Hermione waved her wand again, and the familiar hum of an intense silencing charm filled the room.  
"I know it's intimidating, but Harry and I have discussed it at length and concluded you would be the best suited for this kind of mission, a long haul, detail and research-oriented, all of which is your area of expertise."  
Teddy chewed the inside of her cheek. What kind of mission could possibly await her in the Department of Mysteries? Was this just a ruse to get her out of the Auror Department? The once the star pupil turned embarrassment swept out of sight out of mind in the depths of the Ministry.  
"I'm unable to tell you anything about it unless you agree to take it on. It is unspeakable after all." Hermione tapped the stamp with the tip of her wand to strengthen her point.  
If this indeed was a mission only she was best suited for, how could they be sure she wouldn't muck it up like she had the last one? They were confident Teddy was best suited for that as well. Lycanthropy ran in the family after all. Even if it was only on the tip of her nose, the glint in her eyes, prickling in her ears, and in her boiling blood.  
Despite Teddy's Auror training, Hermione could read her like a book, "We think you're ready. Everyone has a bad mission, you're not the first Auror, and you won't be the last, who had to take a step back for a while. It's happened to Ron. It's even happened to Harry. It's normal." Hermione's words and the soft motherly smile slipped away from her before she quickly snapped back into Minister mode. "That being said, I don't want to lie to you. While this is ground-breaking research, it is also dangerous and could have serious consequences."  
Teddy uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, elbows to knees, "Before I give you an answer, could you at least tell me what exactly I'll be researching? And why an Auror's presence is necessary at all?" She knew she was pushing a bit, but it all seemed a bit odd. Why would they need an Auror to set up camp in the Unspeakable's territory? The Department of Mysteries was known to have a lot of freedom to do whatever they pleased, so for them to ask Hermione for help or permission must mean they're topping anything they've attempted for a long time.  
"They're trying to develop some new practices to help Aurors." She paused, thinking about if she should divulge any further information before Teddy even agreed to take the assignment. She decided against it.  
"Okay…" Teddy said, mind buzzing with all the possibilities. What other tools could the Aurors possibly utilize? Something ground-breaking and dangerous, needing long-term research and study? "That didn't answer many of my questions."  
Hermione knew Teddy would take some convincing; she had hoped the promise of "ground-breaking" and "dangerous" would appease her Gryffindor roots enough for her to just agree out of sheer curiosity.  
"I'm sorry, Teddy, that's all I can say. If you say no, I'll have to divulge this information to someone else from your department. I have to keep as tight-lipped as possible about this, even with you." Hermione's words were final, and Teddy recognized that tone of finality after years spent in the Weasley household.  
At the end of the day, she was right; the promises of ground-breaking study and danger piqued Teddy's interest. She agreed to the terms. Binding her to never speak of this information to anybody, even Harry and Hermione, once the research had begun. She would be unable to share her findings with anyone outside the Department of Mysteries until their study was finalized and put into practice. Even then, she knew she wouldn't be able to discuss everything.  
That's how she ended up there in the Leaky Cauldron. Leroy bugged her with more useless questions about the date, where they were, and whether she had any fever, headache, or diarrhea.  
"Yes to the headache part." Teddy rolled her eyes and cringed at the idea of sharing her bowel movements with him. He slapped a hand on her forehead, checking for himself if she was feverish.  
"How long have you had it?" He asked, quill still scribbling furiously on the parchment that floated next to his head.  
"When did you get here?" She asked.  
"Very funny." He said, but his face was sour.  
"Alright, enough," She slapped his prodding hands away from her and sat on the bed; a cloud of dust appeared around her, causing her to sneeze in response, "Why can't we just do the trials at the Ministry? My nose is going to fall off if we have to continue like this." The dust finally settled around her, but her eyes still itched, and her nose became slightly stuffy, a blessing and a curse considering the strange smells that clung to the room.  
"We have to make sure the results stay the same even when certain variables change. I've explained this to you countless times." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Perhaps the dust was getting to him too. He was just too stubborn to admit it.  
"Alright, alright, just give me and the record the rundown before the others get here. I'm hoping to be in my bed before 3 am tonight." She said, making herself comfortable against the bed's headboard.  
Leroy cast another quick quill charm set to a new parchment piece and sat down on the desk across the room.  
"Statement for the record, my name is Leroy Rook. Head researcher on the Madam Mintumble Project, and I'm here with Ministry Auror and colleague," He looked up expectantly at Teddy.  
"The one and only, Theodora Nymphadora Lupin," She bowed lazily from her sitting position.  
"What did I say about theatrics earlier?" He said, after pausing the note-taking spell. She just shrugged an apology and waved at him to carry on.  
"Today, our testing location is the Leaky Cauldron. It is approximately half-past ten o'clock pm on the 14th of April 2018. In the last trial, Theodora successfully managed to travel backward 2 months. In this trial, we are attempting quite a large jump, hoping to manage 6 months previous. So far, Theodora has managed small interactions with fellow wizards, such as buying a butterbeer, asking for directions, and apparating without any noticeable changes to the current timeline. The only noticeable side effects traveler complains of is fuzzy memory of small details. Theodora, please share for the record how you'll be attempting to travel today." He looked up expectantly at her.  
Something in her gut twinged. This had been happening more often than not as of late. Something warned her against spilling the secrets behind her travels. Call it instinct, intuition, a simple gut feeling, whatever you want, but it was the same feeling she got when she first saw the red stamped folder on Hermione's desk 6 months previous. Perhaps it was the pure taboo of what they were doing. What wizards could say they could bend time? Besides, the few granted access to Time-Turners back before they were all destroyed. She looked away from the man's eyes and focused on the quick quill, pushing that feeling aside.  
"I'll be using the apparition method, the only method I've found that works for me. I call it the apparition method because it works the same as apparating but with a few extra steps and more will-power. Once all of our trials are complete, I'll be writing an in-depth guide made specifically for those in magical law-enforcement and other departments where this knowledge would be of use." She glanced at Leroy from our of her peripheral vision. A flash of frustration crossed his prematurely aging features. The feeling couldn't be pushed away that time.  
"The apparition method must include a material object from the date you plan to travel back. Today I will be using an archived copy of The Daily Prophet." She didn't mention the hour of incantations she had muttered on the commute to the rundown establishment or the countless time spent meditating every day to ensure her head was able to be emptied when the time to travel came. These are things for her to know and for Leroy to find out when he reads the concluded research paper.  
The quill finally stopped its incessant scratching, and Leroy reached out to roll it up, safely storing it in his beaten-up bag.  
"Excellent, now we just have to wait for the others. Are you and the family doing anything for your birthday?" He asked, securing the bag with a charm and leaning back against the wall. Wand still firmly in hand. Teddy reached into her Ministry standard boot to unsheath hers, suddenly feeling exposed and naked without it in her grip. She passed it off casually by twirling it in her fingers. She dug around her brain for a response to the quick change of subject.  
"Ah well, you know, the usual probably." She said vaguely, twirling the wand even faster between the fingers in her dominant hand.  
"Will the Weasleys and the Potters be joining?" He asked. She finally looked over at him, a smile was etched onto his face, but it didn't reach his eyes.  
"Yes, they are my family, after all." She said. A fake laugh slipped out of her mouth. "I'd offer an invite, but I don't think a party involving the Head of the Auror Office and the Minister of Magic herself sounds particularly riveting."  
He offered a forced laugh as well, she noticed his fingers fidgeting with his shoelace, "Yeah, doesn't really sound like my cup of tea."  
"Speaking of the Minister…" She trailed off, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat, "Does she know about me going back 6 months? I was reading through the original time project proposal, and it only mentioned a maximum of 60 days travel."  
Theodora met his eyes full on this time, the smile vanishing from his face and the fumbling of laces stopping. She ceased the twirling of her wand and held it firmly instead.  
"I'm just trying to make sense of it." Teddy shrugged, trying to force back a casual atmosphere. "I don't see the point in going back so far. Even 2 months was a stretch considering Aurors will be restricted to 24 hours."  
Things were beginning to add up in her brain. She could see past the bags under his eyes and lines etched into his young face. They held more than that of long nights from a stressful job. It was something heavier. There was a reason he was trying to get close to her with offers of drinks after hours. Trying to gain trust by talking about comforting topics such as family and friends. He knew when she succeeded and failed, it also meant he was succeeding and failing, she thought they were aiming for the same goal, but perhaps he celebrated her victories for a different reason. It was the first time in 6 months where she had felt foolish again.  
As soon as she heard the lock click on the door using wordless magic, she was on her feet. "What are you playing at Leroy." She held her wand in front of her.  
He was also in a dueling stance, feet planted firmly on the floor and eyes not leaving her wand as it was aimed at him. His wand was pointed at her in return.  
"You know, at first, I was pretty bloody worried when they told me it was you who was shadowing my project. Word travels fast in the Ministry, even to us Unspeakables," His laughter filled the silent charmed room and made it even more stuffy than any amount of dust ever could. "Turns out I had nothing to worry about. The rumors were true. You really thought you could live up to the family name, huh?"  
Teddy could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and her blood turned hot in her veins. She clenched her jaw so tight she thought she may break a tooth in the process. She didn't break her staring contest with his wand. However, his grip was loose and casual, as if he was about to go around the room, mutter cleaning spells and not about to take aim at a Ministry Auror.  
"Just tell me what you're planning, already!" She shouted. She wanted nothing more than to blast him into a wall and dust off her shoulders, but she needed more information.  
"Not one for theatrics now, hm?" He chuckled, the room suddenly felt so cold all the fresh varnish and plush chairs in the world couldn't warm it up. His dull eyes finally made eye contact with hers, the cold smile turned into a grimace, and his body eventually mimicked one ready to fight a highly trained dueler.  
"I knew it would have to come to this eventually. I planned on it. Unlike everyone else, I knew you were a gifted witch who would try to stop me once she pieced it together. What gave it away in the end? Was it the testing outside the Ministry? The length of the travel time? Perhaps something as simple as my name?" Leroy raised an eyebrow at her.  
Now that she was working out an answer for him, did she realize she had absolutely no clue what had been the straw to break the camel's back? It would seem silly to tell him an uneasy feeling in her gut gave him away. It was so juvenile and made her feel as young as she was.  
"Your name." She settled on that. She thought back to the first day on the project when he shook her hand, clammy and cold against her warm grip. His name rang bells in her ears for hours afterward. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it and didn't question it. She had a reputation to mend, and calling out the head of the project on the first day didn't seem like a wise thing to do.  
"Figures," He rolled his eyes, "I would've gotten more creative, but I was young and dumb, much like you, when I started this quest. Turns out shaving off half my last name was enough to keep the whispers off my back until you turned up."  
Theodora didn't let the subtle jab distract her, she was finally getting somewhere, and his name finally fit into the puzzle she was working out in her head. Leroy Rook. Augustus Rookwood. Notable death-eater in the first and second wizarding wars. Unspeakable. Double agent. Names of notorious death-eaters were beaten into her head so often in Auror training she mentally kicked herself for not catching it.  
"Turns out I'm not the only one trying to live up to the family name," Teddy smirked at the information he was giving her, unknowingly selling himself out. "But that still doesn't tell me why you're so desperate for time. Planning on breaking dear old granddad out of Azkaban? Perhaps kill off Karkroff before he has the chance to sell him out?" She knew she was pushing it, but she was tired of the back and forth they were playing.  
"Oh no, my loyalties run deeper than my blood. If I'm successful, it won't have to come to that. The Dark Lord's plans may have been foiled by the misstep nearly 40 years ago, but I am going to ensure he finishes what he started. Take it all the way back to the beginning—no messing about. I've read every last bit of his writings, easy to do when you're an Unspeakable. He knew what a mess the Ministry was going to become before anyone else! A filthy Mudblood as Minister? It makes me want to gag just thinking about it."  
Teddy could feel the heat from her blood warm the rest of her body; her fingertips felt like they could catch fire any moment. In the blink of an eye, the entire room suddenly filled with blasts of light that seemed to come from every direction. Both her and Leroy's wands were ruthless.  
"Go back 40 years and finish what Voldemort started?!" Teddy's voice was raspy and raw from the dust and other debris that now filled the room. "A bit confident for a guy who can't even keep up with a disgraced twenty-year-old witch!" Her laughter was cut off quickly, though as a dreadful blasting curse hit her squarely in the chest.  
"I guess I deserved that one." She was being a bit cocky for someone who hadn't dueled in nearly 7 months.  
She struggled to get up while casting a quick shielding spell as she regained footing. She forgot how much she loved a fair duel. Obviously, nothing good came from dueling. It was dangerous and draining. But it was absolutely intoxicating, like that feeling after sex or when you try laying down in bed after drinking far too much, and the whole room feels like you're on a boat. Just the smell of dueling itself was intoxicating to the point of mind-numbing. Teddy would bathe in it if she could. It was sharp and smokey. The only way she could describe it was pure, unfiltered magic. The smell of old bogey, leftover soup, and dust was no longer clouding her thoughts.  
She took the time it took Leroy to recover from her last shot to survey the room, which was now in total disarray. The dresser had long since been knocked to its side, the drawers open and spilling its sparse contents left by previous guests of the room. The cracks in the ceiling and walls now a few inches bigger than they had been when she first entered, and the curtains, once drawn to prevent prying eyes, lay in a heap on the scraped and dusty wooden floor. Then she spotted it. Her bag lay limply on the floor near Leroy's.  
Months of covert research and the secrets of her success lay in that bag. With her out of the way, it was all at Leroy's disposal. She raised her wand, ready to summon the pack to her when it was blasted from her hand. It landed by the fireplace a few feet away from her. She was now wandless and defenseless, and Leroy knew it. He raised his wand, and she saw such darkness in his eyes that she's never seen before. The smile on his face burned itself into the surface of her brain.  
"We both knew it was going to have to end this way, Teddy," He fixed his face in mock sadness.  
"So, you're just going to kill me then? No wand, no fair fight, thought you were finally warming up to the idea of theatrics?" She said, trying to buy herself more time.  
"Ah yes, but the other researchers will be here soon, and as you can see, I have quite the mess to clean up. You know it's a real shame you had to disappear as you did, part of the Auror job; after all, I'm sure you have a long list of wizards dying to get you out of their hair." He had thought this out a lot more than she had given him credit. Everyone knew the two researchers were close, acquaintances more than just coworkers. He wouldn't even be on the radar.  
She was beginning to pity herself.  
She was wandless. How could she have possibly let herself in this situation? Fucking wandless.  
Then it clicked in her head.  
Wandless.  
She had only managed it a few times. She remembers the whispers so hot on her ears, encouraging, that her magic was beautiful, unique, melting away all self-doubt she'd held in for years. Her entire life even. Then she did wandless magic, just like the rest of them. She was one of them. She shook the memory away. The thought of it now made ice shoot through her, and the scars that licked her face tingle.  
Teddy closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and instead focused on the air filtering around the small room. She let it flow through her, accepting all the magic it had to offer.  
"Avada Ke-"  
She snapped open her eyes and held out her hands, the bag, and her wand automatically slamming against her chest. She felt herself fall to the ground as the last part of the words slipped out of Leroy's mouth.  
This was not what she had imagined death feeling like. After a gross fascination with it as a kid, she concluded through several months of reading that it was quick, painless, and easier than falling asleep. This was so the opposite. Flashes of bright color filled the void that used to be her vision. Her entire body felt like it was being squeezed through a tube, the scars on her face burned, and memories blasted through her ears as she kept falling through the floorboards of the old inn.

"This is dangerous and ground-breaking research."

"You'll never be one of us, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself."

"I will always love you, but you know love can't fix everything. I'm sorry."

"Your parents would be so proud of you."

"Here, darling, take this potion. I think it may help you feel better."

"Hm. Ravenclaw maybe? Hufflepuff? No… you're a difficult one indeed."

"Gran! My letter is here!"

More and more memories flooded through, somehow making their way through the head-splitting pain. Flashes of her grandmother sweeping up broken glass silently after a nasty temper tantrum, her finding a trunk of old things buried in the attic marked with the letters' R.J.L.', and her first night at Hogwarts with treats piled high on her bed while she shared with her dorm-mates.

Soon the memories stopped, her mind went blank, and blackness filled her head instead of bright colors and faded visions. She felt a thud against her back, knocking the wind out of her already ragged chest. She had asked her god-father a few years back what had happened when he was stuck between life and death. He described bright lights, a guide, and a train. She saw nothing. She let the blackness of it all take over.

"Get up."

Teddy winced. The calm blackness she let take over her mind was gone, and instead, pain radiated through her bones once again.

"Get up!"

Things were becoming more clear, but her eyelids were heavy. This doesn't sound like the previous memories. They weren't soft or glowing. These words were shrill and loud and made her head throb even more than before.

"Come on, you drunk, git! I don't have time for this"

Teddy could feel a cold and leathery nudge on her elbow. She forced her eyes open only to regret it in an instant. A bright light pierced her eyes, and she groaned, covering her eyes with her hand. Why did death have to feel like a hangover from hell? That didn't seem very fair.  
"Oh good, you're awake. Didn't quite fancy scraping a dead body off the floor this afternoon." The voice above her said, scoffing once it finished.  
She wasn't dead?  
The new information bounced around her nearly empty head. She blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the room. Old dusty floor, the smell of mildew and day-old soup. A blur stood in front of her, an old leather boot, a slim pale leg attached to it, followed by a woman wearing a beaten grey apron and holding an old dusting broom.  
"Where?" Teddy tried to ask, but it came out as more of a pathetic whimper than anything else. The throbbing pain in her chest, bones, and head came back all at once.  
"Must've had one helluva night. You look like shit, and that's me being nice." The woman took another nudge at her with her leather boot, and Teddy scooted away from it. "You really don't know? You're at the Leaky babe, in what's supposed to be an unoccupied room. We don't take well to squatters, you know." She tapped her broom a few times.  
She definitely wasn't dead. The thought of the Leaky Cauldron being her crossroads and a cleaning lady being her guide only hurt her feelings a little bit, but that wasn't the case, thankfully.  
"M'not squatting," Teddy managed to heave herself sitting up and dug into her pocket, fingers clasping onto the thin identification card. "Ministry business." She flashed the card towards the employee.  
Her face, unsmiling and unmoving, appeared on the front of the card. The only way someone could tell it apart from a muggle photograph was the flash of light on her face followed by some bewildered blinking. She remembered being excited that day, her first official day as a ministry Auror. Following her god-father around like a small shadow while he showed her around and got her paperwork sorted. He sent her to the administrative section by herself to get her I.D. figured out, and Teddy grinned the whole way there. The receptionist didn't look nearly as pleased while she stood in front of the brick wall. "Stop smiling. This isn't bloody school picture day." She muttered while she got the camera out. So Teddy stopped. The grin returned to her face, however, as she presented the card to Harry, and he said, "Your parents would be so proud of you."  
The cleaning woman did not look nearly as impressed as Harry had. Her eyes flicked around the room, and to the door, she stepped away from Teddy.  
"Ah, of course, uhm," She backed towards the door, her eyes not leaving the lump of a girl that lay on the floor, "my apologies, stay as long as you need." She whizzed around and left the room without another look into the room, her boots kicking up dust as she made the hasty exit.  
Teddy stared at the now empty doorway. She had told her to stay as long as she needed, but Theodora felt she had overstayed her welcome. Who knows when Leroy would be back to collect her. Her bones ached and popped as she attempted to stand. It took a few tries, but she managed to get there. The room he had dumped her body in looked identical to the one she last remembered. If anything, it was a bit nicer. Fewer cracks in the ceiling, furniture a little less dusty, and a new coat of varnish could wait a few years for sure. She still wouldn't mind a cozy chair in the corner, though.  
Teddy slowly made her way into the bathroom, only stopping to shake out her limbs when they gave a particularly sharp jolt of pain. The housekeeper had been right, she did look like shit, and she was nice when she said it like that. Her mess of pale brown curls was a frizzy mess around her head, some spots no longer curly but instead tangled into small puffs. She removed a hair tie from her wrist and did it up as best she could, wincing a couple of times as it got stuck in her fingers. The bags under her eyes were even worse than usual, but nothing to be too concerned about. Luckily, the only real damage to her face was a split lip, which could be fixed with a quick spell she had learned in a first aid course. The rest of her was a bit of a mess. She would need to see a healer. She didn't trust herself to mend any of the ribs she was sure were broken. She also needed to get her hands on some bruise cream. A nasty one bloomed on her hip. She traced a circle around it, testing the pain level, and gasped at a particularly bad point. She traced the smaller ones on her arm and leg. They didn't hurt too badly. Nothing she couldn't handle. Her fingers lingered on a scar on her chest, similar in color to the ones on her face. Unfortunately, that one wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.  
Once her general welfare check was sorted, she went back into the main room and collected her bag. She needed to get to the Ministry immediately and notify them of Rook's plans. She had no idea how long she had been comatose in that dingy room. The stairs to the main dining and check-in area creaked more than her body did; only a few people spread themselves around the main floor. Shifty eyes immediately bore at her. A man in the corner fiddled with his wand nervously. The famous inn's atmosphere was different from what she has come to know since she was a kid. She and her grandmother often made their way through during Diagon Alley trips, and she would sometimes stop in alone for a pint as she got older. It's always been a sort of welcoming place, useful for catching up on gossip and arguing over recently published articles. That was not the case today.  
She passed one of the many unoccupied tables on her way to the front door, a large headline on the cover of a discarded Daily Prophet catches her eye, and she slows down.

**'DEATH EATER RAMPAGE CLAIMS ANOTHER'**

Teddy's heart stops. There's no way Leroy was able to round up enough Death Eaters to stage a full-blown attack while she was out. As far as she knows, after the second war, the majority of Voldemort's followers were either dead or in prison. She snatches up the flimsy stack of papers, causing a woman whose eyes were following her to flinch at her sudden movement. The photo that resided by the full article was grainy and blurry, but it was clear as day to her what she was looking at. Something only seen in textbooks and described through stories of those thrown into the midst of the war.  
The Dark Mark glared at her from the page. It was taken quickly by someone who didn't want to stay too close to it for too long.  
Her eyes flickered around the rest of the paper, but before she could skim the article, something else jumped out at her above all else. All the pain suddenly vanished from her body. She couldn't feel the eyes of the strangers burn into her side any longer. A lump formed in her throat. Her fingertips grew numb on the edges of the newspaper.

**14 APRIL 1979**


End file.
